André Ouellet
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André Ouellet PC (born April 6, 1939) is the former president of Canada Post, and a long time Liberal politician in Canada.
First elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a 1967 by-election, Ouellet served in a number of different positions in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau. Ouellet represented the safe Liberal seat of Papineau in Montreal for almost thirty years. Even when the Liberals were crushed by the Progressive Conservative Party in the election of 1984, he retained his seat by a substantial margin. In opposition, Ouellet became the Liberal's leading figure in the constitutional negotiations that led to the Charlottetown Accord, and was a strong advocate for the constitutional reform proposal, which was rejected in a 1992 referendum.
With the return to power of the Liberals after the 1993 election, Ouellet was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs by the new prime minister, Jean Chrétien. Despite his experience, Ouellet was not popular in Quebec, and the lasting legacy of the Charlottetown Accord hurt him. After the close result of the 1995 Quebec referendum, Chrétien wanted to present a new face of his government in Quebec. In 1996, Chrétien appointed Ouellet to head Canada Post Corporation. Ouellet's seat in the Canadian House of Commons was taken by Pierre Pettigrew in a by-election later that year.
As cabinet minister, Ouellet had served as Canadian Postmaster General. As President of Canada Post, he implemented reform that led to record profits in the corporation. Recently, controversy has surrounded Ouellet as the post office is one of the organizations embroiled in the Sponsorship Scandal. As a result, Ouellet was suspended from his position at Canada Post in February 2004 by Prime Minister Paul Martin. He resigned as president of Canada Post on August 12, 2004, after it was revealed that he failed to provide invoices for hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal expenses, and that he handed out untendered contracts.
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| 26th Ministry - Government of Jean Chrétien | ||
| Cabinet Posts (2) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| legislation enacted | Minister of Foreign Affairs (1995–1996) |
Lloyd Axworthy |
| Perrin Beatty | Secretary of State for External Affairs (1993–1995) styled as Minister of Foreign Affairs |
legislation enacted |
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Guy Favreau |
Member of Parliament for Papineau 1967–1988 |
Succeeded by The electoral district was abolished in 1987. |
| Preceded by The electoral district was created in 1987. |
Member of Parliament for Papineau—Saint-Michel 1988–1996 |
Succeeded by Pierre Pettigrew |
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